


Don't Run, Stop Holding Your Tongue

by missfeministfangirl



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 18:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3260399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missfeministfangirl/pseuds/missfeministfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hak finally tries to tell Yona how he feels. And fails miserably. Yona takes pity on him(eventually)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Future!fic set around five years after canon where Yona is around twenty and Queen of Kouka. I just thought about the fact that Hak always tries to act like Mr. Cool Guy but I think when it comes to actually confessing to Yona he'd be a total adorkable mess, like let's be real. Also, I don't know what's happened to Su-Won in this verse because when I start thinking about that stuff I get a lot of feels. So we're not thinking about that.
> 
> Title from Brave by Sara Bareilles because i heard it on the radio on the other day and it just made me think of these two<3

Hak was not afraid of many things. Fearlessness was something he had had to learn to become general of the wind tribe as well as Yona’s body guard and now Commander of her Royal army. It was something that had stayed with him, had helped protect him and the princess when they had fled the castle and during their time on the run with the four dragons. Mun Dok had always told him that courage was an integral part of the Wind Tribe, despite their laid back reputation. “The wind does not hesitate even with the highest mountain in its path,” the old man had always said.

Hak certainly hadn’t thought it was fear that had stopped him from confessing his feelings to Yona until now. No it hadn’t been fear, it was just…well at first he had been Yona’s body guard and she had been a princess. And back then he had been sure King Il would never have approved of someone like him having feelings for his daughter. If he found out, despite his fondness for Hak, he might even send him away. And then Yona would have to settle for some other guard who would probably be totally incompetent. The princess would be in danger and…alone. So he had stayed silent. 

And then… then both of their worlds had fallen apart. As easily as pulling a thread, as quietly as the fall of fine silk, Su-Won had unraveled the lives they had known and left them both to pick up the pieces. And no matter how much he worried during those days the imperial guards might find them, that any day might be their last day together and free, it had not the time to say anything about his feelings. Not when Yona still clutched Su-Won’s hair clip, not with both of their minds still on their best friend turned enemy.

Meeting Yun and finding the dragons had brought some safety and security. They were no longer running away, they were rebelling. But Yona had other things on her mind, was always busy trying to help this village or that one, trying to decide where they would go next. She was still trying to find her place in the world after what had happened.

Sometimes he slipped up and couldn't help but kiss her, came so very close to baring his soul to her but he could never bring himself to. He didn’t want to pressure her or confuse her. Not when their world was already so unstable.

He had stayed silent then but it hadn’t been out of fear (or at least, that's he tried to convince himself). But today---today he was afraid. 

It was almost a year since Yona had taken the throne, almost a year since she had become Queen Yona(and that phrase make Hak feel happy and proud and a few other emotions that were a little more confusing and...inappropriate). Surely now was the right time to say something, if any time was the right time. Except—

Except she was a Queen now. And Hak figured he couldn't just---confess to a _Queen_ the way you would to a normal person would. That would probably be a horrible breach of protocol or something. You had to court a Queen right? Bring her gifts, declare your love, recite some poetry...or something.

Which is how Hak found himself standing outside the Queen’s apartments with a bouquet of flowers, palms sweating, heart beating fast and deeply regretting his decision to knock on her door. It had seemed like such a good idea at first. Girl’s liked flowers, flowers would work, right? He would give her the flowers and she would smile and be happy and then Hak would tell her how he felt, he would speak the words he had thought a thousand times in his mind. Words that had surged up in him while he watched Yona grow more confident during their travels, as he watched her master the bow, watched her grow strong. They were words he had repeaeted to himself, almost like a prayer everytime he was in danger, always fearful that he would be too late, that he would never be able to say those words to her out loud. They were words that had flitted through his mind at night before he fell asleep. 

And that was all very well and good. Except---

Except he had gone to the hot house to pick the flowers himself because he had thought that would be a nice touch, but now that he looked at them he thought that lily might be a little wilted and did those little purple ones really go with those bright orange one? He wasn’t a damn florist after all, and his hands were still sweating, how could they still be sweating---

Yona opened the door.

“Ah, Hak what is it? Is something—oh”

Yona had seen the flowers in Hak’s hand. Stupified, he held them out to her.

She smiled, just like he had thought she would, but that was where his plan hit a snag. That smile. That smile had disappeared for a time when they had been on the run. He had longed for the smile back then, had cherished even the merest glimpse of it. As time had gone on it had become a more common sight. But this smile was for him and it was like---it was like riding rast and hard on his favorite horse, like the cleanest strike of his spear, like the clear cutting wind in the mountains near Fuuga. In the face of that smile he couldn’t remember what he had been going to say, couldn’t even remember the simplest things that had been on the tip of his tongue the past few days.

He shoved the flowers at her , mumbled something that even to him was incoherent and then power walked down the hall without looking back. 

\------------------------------------  
After his first…strategic retreat, Hak took some time to regroup. Clearly this was going to be harder than he had thought. Maybe it had been a mistake to try and give her a gift in person where her smile and her face and generally just all of her could distract him and make him nervous. Yeah, that was probably the problem. He would write her a note next time. A note and a gift from a secret admirer. That seemed sufficiently romantic.

This time he decided to pick out some jewelry. After all you didn’t have to arrange jewelry, you just had to pick something and buy it. 

He went to the best jewelers in the capital, the ones that served the palace, the nobility and the generals of Kouka’s tribes. But somehow nothing he saw seemed right. The necklaces, bracelets and earrings he saw were all nice but a bit too ostentatious, too gaudy. They were large and heavy, dripping in gold and jewels and they just didn't fit. If he gave Yona one of them she might smile and wear it occasionally at a special occasion or a feast. But he realized, he wanted something that she would love, something she would wear every day, something that would be close to her always. The way he wanted to be. 

He had almost given up hope when he found a shop in the lower part of town, outside of the wealthier district near the palace. The wares there were simple but very well made. The older lady who owned the place smiled benevolently at him as he looked.

Then he saw it: a simple necklace with a silver chain and a jade pendant hanging from it. Carved into the the green stone was a small dragon. Yes, she would like this. His dragon princess. 

Hak paid for it and as the elderly proprietress laid the necklace on a soft cushion inside a small box for him she had a twinkle in her eye.

“Something for your sweetheart, young man?”

Hak almost laughed. He wondered what the woman would say if he told her the necklace was for the queen. She probably wouldn’t believe him. He hardly believed it himself.

Instead he nodded and thanked her. 

He took the necklace, hidden inside the folds of his cloak, back to his room in the palace. He took another peek at it, smiling to himself and then grabbed a piece of paper. Setting his feelings down on paper would be much easier than having to tell them to Yona face to face.

An hour later Hak’s hands were covered in ink, his floor was covered in discarded letters and he felt a headache coming on. Apparently he was no better at writing about his feelings than he was at talking about them. Every time he tried to write something down it ended up sounding either too flowerly and insincere or too terse and unfeeling.

He gave up and called a servant to deliver the present to Yona.

"Convey this to the Queen," he said, handing over the necklace, "with...my regards."

"Yes, Commander Hak."

"And don't you dare tell anyone else about this." he growled.

"Of course not, Commander Hak." the servant said, scurrying away. Hak could at least be satisfied that he wasn't loosing his reputation as Scary Commander Hak amongst all this lovesickness.

Hak spent a restless night thinking about all the things he could have written to Yona, wondering what she would think of the necklace.

In the morning, bleary eyed and still yawning, Hak went, as he did every morning, to deliver the days reports and gorvernmental paperwork to the queen and check up on her.

He gave a perfunctory knock on her door and entered.

"Good morning, your majesty."

"Ah, morning, Hak" Yona replied. She was sitting at a table by the window having her morning meal.

"Sweet buns for breakfast, your majesty?" Hak teased, feeling a little more like his old self.

"Don't be mean, Hak. Yoon made them for me, I couldn't say no." Yona countered, happily nibbling the sweet treats.

Just as he was about to speak again, Hak saw a flash of something shiny. It was the necklace he had bought. He hadn't noticed it until now because Yona's dress almost hid it from view but the soft morning light caught the silver and seemed to almost make her skin sparkle. The chain curved around her neck leading down to the dragon pendant that hung just above the curve of her breasts. It looked wonderful on her, it’s clean simplicity accentuating her beauty. He couldn’t stop looking at it, this thing he had picked out with such care nestled against her warm skin.

“What’s wrong Hak?” Yona asked. There was something knowing in her gaze, something that said she knew what he was thinking, maybe even knew what he had tried to say with the flowers and the necklace but was waiting for him to say it.

But he still had no response, still couldn’t force any significant words out of his mouth because he kept catching sight of the necklace and somehow it made him happy and scared at the same time.

“N—nothing.” Is all he could say.

Yona just nodded and he thought he could see the barest hint of a smile, but she turned to look out the window before he could be sure.

“Oh by the way I want to go out riding this afternoon, somewhere outside the city. Will you come with me?”

“—of course, your majesty.”

As he went to leave he couldn’t resist saying,

“You know, your teeth’ll rot If you eat too many of those,” nodding at the sweet buns. He beat a hasty retreat from the royal chamber under a barrage of pastries.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> changed the rating because things got a little more makeout-y than I had planned. What're ya gonna do;p Enjoy the second/last chapter!

Yona was a little nervous as she waited for Hak in the stable that afternoon. 

As she stood by her mount, her bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, she found herself fingering the jade pendant at the end of her necklace. The necklace Hak had given her. With no note, not a word just _With his regards_ as the poor, frightened looking servant had said last night.

Yona smiled and felt some of her nerves melt away. At least she wasn’t the only one of them with butterflies in her stomach. 

Hak arrived soon, acting mostly like his old self, if a little bit jumpier. They mounted and headed out of the city, Hak leading the way at first, taking them down side streets and alleys so they didn’t draw too much attention. He always knew what she needed, Yona thought to herself. Finally they made their way past the city walls and into the countryside. It was early fall, the sun still just barely warm enough to mask the chill in the air. Yona pulled ahead and Hak fell back, letting her lead them wherever she wanted to go. 

She took them away from the mountains out to west where it was all grassy hills so she could spur her horse on to go faster and faster. She looked back and saw Hak smirking, taking the challenge and speeding up, coming up alongside her. 

They passed by a copse of trees at the bottom of a hill and Yona drew her bow, nocked an arrows, sat up in the saddle and let it loose. She gave a little shout of triumph as it hit right in the middle of one of the trees. Hak stuck his tongue out at her obstinately.

“The thunder beast isn’t impressed?” She asked as she lead them over to the tree.

“I’ve seen you hit better,” Hak said, “You’re out of practice, princess.”

Yona smiled as she dismounted and walked over to pull the arrow from it’s target. She liked when he did that, called her princess. Somehow it was nice to be reminded of a time before she was queen. It was nice to know that Hak remembered that time too. 

There was a moment of silence as Yona ran her finger along the mark her arrow had made in the wood. She heard Hak get down from his horse. She put the arrow back in her quiver and turned to face him. He looked so handsome, the late afternoon sun glancing off his face, making his inky black hair shine. It made his blue eyes, usually dark and stormy seem to be alive like an ocean full of waves. But she had seen those eyes turn soft when they looked at her. It had been a shock the first time she had noticed the way Hak looked at her when he thought she couldn’t see. He usually looked so strong: tall and muscular, the angles of his face sharp and stern. But then she had started to notice him, just out of the corner of her eye, looking at her with a look that had softened his face, made his eyes warm and almost…pleading? It was the same look on he had had on his face when he had given her those flowers. The same look he had on his face now. 

“Um, listen princess,---I wanted to say something---to you—umm about the , the necklace uhh and the---the flowers----“ 

Seeing Hak who always had a sarcastic comment or biting comeback at a loss for words made Yona take pity on him. She laid her bow and quiver down next to the base of the tree and walked over to him.

She had to push up onto her toes to place her hands on his face and tilt his head down to kiss him. She had been thinking about this ever since she realized that she returned Hak’s feelings, what it would be like to kiss him. His lips were slightly rough from the fall wind but warm, so warm she felt it through her whole body. For a moment he hardly moved, caught off guard by her boldness. But then his arms came down and he lifted her off the ground. He settled his arms behind her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist and his lips surged against hers. He kissed her with a strange combination and passion and restraint, like a flame kept at just the right level to give off heat but not to consume. It that felt like…worship. It made Yona’s stomach flutter as she felt Hak’s tongue brush against hers. She shifted in his arms so she could move her hands away from his face and up to run them through his hair. He gasped when she did that, his hand gently squeezing her thighs.

Finally they pulled away from each other, Hak carefully putting her back on the ground but still holding her close. He bent down so their foreheads were touching.

“Yona…” 

The sound of her name had never made her feel the way it did when Hak said it. No Queen in front of it, not even a princess. Just Yona.

“I love you, Hak.”

“I—I love you so much, Yona.” Hak breathed, as though it were some secret, treasured thing. He smiled a little, “But I’m pretty sure you already knew that.”

“The flowers and the necklace were helpful hints,” she admitted, “But—but I know you’ve felt this way for---a long time and I’m sorry I couldn’t---until now---“

“Yona, don’t.” Hak said, dropping a kiss on her cheek, “I don’t care about that. I would do it again. And if I had thought it was the right time to tell you I would have. Let’s not talk about it. Since clearly talking isn’t my strong suit.”

Yona giggled at that.

“Agreed. So, what is your strong suit?”

“Oh, I’d be happy to show you, princess” Hak said, taking her hand and leading her over to sit against the base of the tree. 

With Yona cradled in Hak’s lap they kissed. Hak seemed content to go achingly slow, to find out which spots felt the best when he kissed them. And Yona wasn’t afraid to let him know. She squeezed his shoulders tight when he found a perfect, tender spot on her neck and proceeded to nibble at it, then sooth it with his tongue in turns. She moaned when he mouthed gently at the palm of her hand.

For her part she took the time to touch as much of Hak as she dared, tracing the shape of his muscled arms and trail her hands over every bit of exposed skin she could find.  
After a while she found herself squirming in Hak’s lap. 

“Hak…” 

“Hmmm?” Hak replied, too busy tracing her clavicle with his tongue to speak.

“I think we should go back.”

Hak pulled away. He looked a little dazed from their activities as he asked,

“Why? No one will be expecting us back for while.”

“No, Hak, I—I want us to go back. Now.”

Comprehension dawned and a knowing glint came into Hak’s eye.

“Oh really, and why’s that, princess?”

“B-because—there’s some other places I want you to kiss and we can’t do it here!” Yona blurted out in frustration. 

Hak swooped down to give her one last kiss.

“I’ll race you back,” he murmured against her lips.

They made it back in record time. Yona won, but Hak didn’t really seem to mind.


End file.
